Prof. Gates Tells His Side of the Story, Chastises Policeman

Posted on Jul 21, 2009

Looks like Harvard professor and race scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. won’t face criminal charges after last Thursday’s unfortunate confrontation with a Cambridge, Mass., police officer, but the incident definitely touched off some reactions well beyond Harvard Square. Meanwhile, Gates has given his account of what happened and has called for an apology from the officer in question.

The Boston Globe:

Gates accused the officer who arrested him at his Cambridge home of having a “broad imagination” when he summarized last Thursday’s confrontation in police reports, and he denied making several inflammatory remarks.

“I believe the police officer should apologize to me for what he knows he did that was wrong,” Gates said in a phone interview from his other home in Martha’s Vineyard. “If he apologizes sincerely, I am willing to forgive him. And if he admits his error, I am willing to educate him about the history of racism in America and the issue of racial profiling ... That’s what I do for a living.”